Here’s How India’s Greenfield Airports Project Is Taking Shape

The government of India has so far accorded 'in-principle' approval for setting up 21 greenfield airports across 11 states and the Union territory of Puducherry.

These are: Mopa in Goa, Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, Kalaburagi, Bijapur, Hassan and Shimoga in Karnataka, Datia (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh, Kushinagar and Noida (Jewar) in Uttar Pradesh, Dholera and Hirasar in Gujarat, Karaikal in Puducherry, Dagadarthi, Bhogapuram and Oravakal in Andhra Pradesh, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala and Hollongi (Itanagar) in Arunachal Pradesh.

Out of these, eight airports namely Durgapur, Shirdi, Sindhudurg, Pakyong, Kannur, Kalaburagi, Oravakal and Kushinagar have been operationalised.

Kushinagar International Airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 20 October 2021. Domestic flight operations at this airport commenced on 26 November 2021 with the first flight operating between Delhi and Kushinagar under the RCS-UDAN scheme.

Nine International Airports In The Pipeline

The airports accorded approval at Mopa, Navi Mumbai, Shirdi, Noida (Jewar), Dholera, Hirasar, Bhogapuram, Kannur and Kushinagar are international airports and the remaining are domestic airports.

Currently, India has 29 international airports. With the setting up of these nine greenfield airports, the total count would reach 38. Uttar Pradesh is poised to become the only state with five international airports. Currently, only three airports located in Lucknow, Varanasi and Kushinagar are operational, while the ones at Ayodhya and Jewar are under construction.

Jewar International Airport

The much-awaited Noida International Airport (NIA) in Jewar, which is currently under construction, would be India’s largest airport on completion and is expected to be a game changer for Uttar Pradesh. It will also be the first Indian airport with net zero emissions.

Noida International Airport is planned on an area of 1,334 hectares at Jewar in the Yamuna Expressway International Development Authority (YEIDA) notified area of district Gautam Budhha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. The airport will be strategically located at about 72 km from Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi; about 52 km from Noida, about 130 km from Agra and about 90 km from Multi-Modal Logistics Hub at Dadri.

The country's newest greenfield project received 'in principle' approval in 2018 and the foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister on 25 November 2021. The Uttar Pradesh government appointed Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) as the implementing agency for the project under public private partnership (PPP) mode. Zurich Airport International AG, the Switzerland-headquartered company has been selected as the concessionaire for development of the airport.

The new airport would provide the national capital region (NCR) with a second facility after Indira Gandhi International Airport. This would support the decongestion of IGI Airport which is soon expected to reach its maximum capacity.

Greenfield Airport Policy, 2008

The Government of India has formulated a Greenfield Airport Policy, 2008 which provides extant guidelines for the development of greenfield airports in the country. These guidelines place contingent responsibilities on the central and state governments and thus are a hallmark of competitive and cooperative federalism.

While responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M Scindia said: “The Government of India has formulated the greenfield policy for construction of greenfield airport, for which the State government/airport operator has to identify site(s) and get the feasibility study conducted for construction of airport. The application is then sent to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in the prescribed format for site clearance and in-principle approval by the steering committee.”

Why The Need?

A greenfield airport is one which is built from scratch on a new (undeveloped) site. The word 'greenfield' originates from software engineering. It means a project that does not have any constraints imposed by prior work. Such airports are constructed to support the projected requirements of traffic of the existing airport.

Development of an airport is one of the key enablers for the development of an industrial region (including urban centres) and is also expected to create a significant multiplier impact in the economy. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) estimates the output and employment multipliers of aviation as 3.25 and 6.10 respectively. This implies that every Rs 100 spent on air transport contributes to Rs 325 worth of benefits, and every 100 direct jobs in air transport results in 610 jobs in the economy as a whole.

The Indian Civil Aviation market is witnessing a fundamental change with the passenger traffic expected to double by 2030. India is expected to overtake China and the United States as the world's third-largest air passenger market in the next 10 years, by 2030, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

To cater to the rising air traffic, the government of India has been working towards increasing the number of airports. As of 2020, India had 153 operational airports. The country has envisaged increasing the number of operational airports to 190-200 by FY40. With a focus on catering to huge passenger traffic, and connecting the hitherto untapped areas, there is a renewed push for setting up greenfield airports in the country.

Operationalisation of these airports would pin a vast territory on the national aviation map, particularly the North East and lead to a strong aerial connectivity across the country. The development will have a multiplier effect on the hospitality, tourism and local economy. The long-term implications include development of the industrial infrastructure, and a spur in manufacturing and export.

Nonetheless, the economic viability of these new airports, particularly the small ones, is yet to be tested. The success of these new airports is contingent on their cash flow which is already under duress due to the pandemic and thus needs a nuanced handling by the operator and regulator. The debaters for India’s greenfield airport are in it for a long haul.